Latest Reviews for Nokia Asha

[Good] The mobile phone nokia asha 206 that I own is a very reliable, portable, and useful. I don't only use it for SMS or texting and calling but also I have been using it for my leisure time or if ...Read more

[Good] My asha 305 is really good it can do all the hobby i want like installing apps and surfing facebook withno hussle i really love my asha 305 hope to upgrade it soon with new apps and others and ...Read more

About Nokia Asha

Before Microsoft completes the buyout of Nokia’s mobile phone business, the once top mobile brand introduced the Asha series which runs mostly on the Series 40 operating system. The collection, named after the Sanskrit word that means "hope", features low end smartphones as well as feature phones and comes at really reasonable prices.

Popularity in the Philippines

Nokia has managed to ride on its brand recognition and immediately got the attention of the Filipinos with its Asha series. Not only are the phones refreshingly uncomplicated, they also look and feel trendy and cool. Of course, the mobile company knows it will have a hard time competing with the other big brands like Samsung and Apple when it comes to high end smartphone features so they decided to play it smart with this collection. Fortunately, their gamble paid off as the series is gaining a momentum in terms of local sales.

Product Features

The very first Asha device which was introduced in 2011, the Asha 200, featured a QWERTY keypad and 2MP camera. For Filipinos who love to send SMS, it is certainly a welcome change from the brand’s usual alphanumeric keypad. It was also Dual SIM capable, which endeared it further to the local market.

The great consumer response to the series prompted the mobile manufacturer to release models with resistive touch screen as well as capacitive touchscreen display and also Single and / or Dual SIM versions for each model. In total, there are about 19 models under the Asha series with all of them featuring GPS functionality and FM radio as well as camera.

The later models particularly the Asha 501, 500, 502 and 503, run on the new Nokia Asha Platform operating system, which essentially builds on the S4 system, considered to be one of the most widely used mobile platforms in the world but are not designed for smartphones. The Nokia Asha platform, on the other hand, has been designed specifically for low-end borderline smartphone devices.

Asha 501 – a compact yet powerful smartphone with Xpress Browser, Fastlane and bold colours to choose from as well as 3 inch LCD transmissive display and 3.2MP rear camera

Pros

Obviously, the number one come-on of this series would be its price. Range is between P2900 to P4500. Of course, consumers will not be short changed when it comes to durability and reliability. After all, the phones are still made by one of the most reputable companies in the world. A lot of consumers also like the fun colours which is noticeably absent in a market where most of the phones come in Silver, Black or White colors.

There is also the Nokia Xpress browsers which is great in optimizing web pages according to the screen and capabilities of the devices, allowing data to be compressed resulting to reduced data transmission charges which is certainly something mobile users will come to appreciate.

Cons

Although some of the Asha models (311, 309 and 308) were advertised to be "smartphones" they are decidedly not since they do not support any features that will put them under the same category like having fully fledged HTML browser or multitasking capabilities.

The devices also lack in high quality cameras. For instance, its flagship model, the Nokia Asha 502 only features 5MP camera with LED display, a far cry from the 20.7MP camera sported by Sony Xperia Z1. Data carrier-wise, the series only support up to 3G to date.

Others/News

The start of 2014 looks promising for the series with the introduction of its latest model, the Nokia Asha 503. Featuring a 3-inch LCD capacitive touchscreen display, 5MP camera and Dual SIM capabilities, the handset is a great-looking budget phone which is more than adequate for calls, texts and social networking. It has yet to reach the country, but when it does, it would certainly take the low budget feature phone market by storm.

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